Sunday, December 22

Tag: Tess Seddon

Tess Seddon talks about staging Kay Mellor’s first hit play, A Passionate Woman, at Leeds Playhouse
16May By Paul ClarkeNo Comments
Interviews

Tess Seddon talks about staging Kay Mellor’s first hit play, A Passionate Woman, at Leeds Playhouse

30 years ago Leeds Playhouse staged A Passionate Woman by local playwright Kay Mellor who went onto pen massive TV hits like Band of Gold and Fat Friends. The play is set in the 1990s with glimpses back into the 1950s as Leeds woman Betty reconsiders the decisions she’s made, and the roads she’s left untravelled. Now this troubled woman at the heart of the play is returning to the same stage – the Courtyard – in memory of the much-missed writer who died a year ago. It’s directed by Tess Seddon, who lives in Leeds, trained at Leeds Playhouse and runs her own company, TheatreState, in the city. Tess Seddon explains why A Passionate Woman, with Emmerdale star Katherine Dow Blyton as Betty, is making a comeback three decades on. Why choose this play to direct? Kay was such an ic...
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Say Yes to Tess – Camden People’s Theatre
9Apr By Zoё MeeresNo Comments
London

Say Yes to Tess – Camden People’s Theatre

When I arrived at the Camden People’s Theatre on Thursday night, despite having been there several times before, I walked straight past it. It has had a lovely post-pandemic spruce up and the space felt clean, calm and inviting. Then, my heart sank when I saw the promotional poster for the show. “Say Yes to Tess - A New Musical”. Now don’t get me wrong, fringe theatre is very much my bag, and the description I’d read of the piece had really appealed to me, but goodness me… a musical in an intimate setting is the stuff of my nightmares. I’m pleased to report, though, that I was very pleasantly surprised and had a genuinely uplifting and enjoyable evening. Say Yes to Tess is Tess Seddon’s autobiographical retelling of her experience standing as a candidate for the Yorkshire Party in the 2...
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Musical director Harry Blake talks about Say Yes to Tess at Leeds Playhouse
11Mar By Paul ClarkeNo Comments
Interviews

Musical director Harry Blake talks about Say Yes to Tess at Leeds Playhouse

One of the first-time candidates in the 2017 general election was Tess Seddon who stood for the Yorkshire Party in Leeds North East. Not surprisingly given it is a safe Labour safe this political novice didn’t win with her 303 votes, but she has now turned her experiences as a candidate into a musical comedy, Say Yes to Tess. Unexpectedly thrust into the political maelstrom Tess takes her newly formed party’s passion for Yorkshire devolution to the streets, but with the election day looming her play follows the candidate as she starts to question whether she’s doing the right thing. Our Yorkshire Editor Paul Clarke caught up with the show’s musical director Harry Blake to find out more about a show that attempts to make politics fun, and maybe just a bit more accessible. Tell m...
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Amanda Huxtable talks about directing Decades which reopens Leeds Playhouse
13May By Paul ClarkeNo Comments
Interviews

Amanda Huxtable talks about directing Decades which reopens Leeds Playhouse

Leeds Playhouse kick off their 50th anniversary celebrations and reopen the doors with six short monologues written by a mix of new and experienced writers. Decades: Stories From The City takes a particular decade from across the Playhouse’s lifespan covering the 1970s to the 2020s, tracing how their home city has changed over that time.  As this is their first set of shows after lockdown the Playhouse have also recruited a strong cast of directors, including Leeds Playhouse’s Artistic Director James Brining who is joined in the rehearsal spaces by Associate Director Amy Leach and RTYDS Resident Assistant Director Sameena Hussain, Evie Manning of Common Wealth Theatre and Theatre State’s Tess Seddon. The hugely experienced Amanda Huxtable directs Leanna Benjamin’s The Unknown...
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